I just received some excellent resources, support and advice from Tiffany Pavelka and her Red Cape Consulting group as well as Connie Whitesell for an event I promoted on LinkedIn. That started me thinking about all the wonderful people I have met through LinkedIn and of course, as a LinkedIn coach and trainer, how one can show appreciation on LinkedIn. You can do these things year-round but especially in this season of the American Thanksgiving season. There’s no reason to limit showing thankfulness to a time of year.
Endorse people (meaningfully)
When you go to a connection’s LinkedIn profile, a pop-up menu used to suggest skills you might want to endorse that person for. It stopped doing that but now you have to consciously make an effort to go to the list of skills, usually located far down in their profile, and make some choices. Choose two or three skills that you really believe you can endorse that person for and click on the + sign next to the skill.
Receive endorsements (gracefully)
When you receive a note from LinkedIn that someone has endorsed you for a skill(s) – assuming they’re relevant (see “Endorse People” above) – go ahead and send them a quick message – something along the lines of “I appreciate that you endorsed me on LinkedIn. It’s nice to be remembered.”
Write a recommendation (unsolicited)
Imagine what it would feel like to open your mail and find some meaningful compliments about the value someone found in working with you. “Tom was an excellent best team leader and top producer. Our department saved millions of dollars during his time in the company. Our time to market decreased by 30%….” Be specific. Be genuine. Be careful in your choice of language – I once wrote about someone that “the success of a project was due in no small part to her contributions.” She was horribly insulted. English was her second language and it turned out she thought I meant that she had only a small part in the project’s success. Oops! Have someone else look at what you write if you’re not sure. My compliments are often British style understated and telling someone they did something “quite well” sounds less than if they did it “very well.”
Mention an author’s name (when you share their original content)
When you share someone’s content on LinkedIn you have the option to mention their name in the share an update box. If you write the @ sign before typing in their name, it will automatically link to their LinkedIn profile and ping them that you’d mentioned them. You don’t need to be their connection to be able to mention their name.
Mention the curator (who found great content)
They spent the time and effort to curate some great content. Give them credit for it (see “Mention an author’s name” above) to use the same technique to give credit to the curator.
Share other’s content (generously)
I often share great information from some of the LinkedIn experts I follow and have taken training from. Even if you think they might be competitors, approach the universe from a spirit of generosity and plenty and it will repay you richly. The scarcity complex mentality will not help your business grow.
Share a great tip (for free)
If you know a great tip for something others might find of value – a marketing tip, a best practice’s tip, etc., don’t make them go to your website and sign up for your newsletter to get it – just share it on LinkedIn occasionally. If it’s good stuff, they’re likely to go to your website for more anyway!
I’d love to hear what ways you’ve done on LinkedIn to show your gratitude. Please email me sandra@linkedInmentoring.com with your ideas or let me know which of my suggestions above you’ve done.
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I would love to talk with you about the benefits to you of having a great profile on LinkedIn, how to use it without driving yourself crazy and how I could help you with your professional goals. Please schedule a free 30-minute discovery consultation to see how I might be able to assist you.